Operation: MARATHON
by hockeychic92
Summary: In the aftermath of Regret's jump into Slipspace, a UNSC Marathon-class Cruiser is destroyed and crashes outside of Mombasa. With most of the marines scattered or in pursuit of Regret, it's up to a small force to save the survivors of the crash...
1. Chapter 1: Catastrophe

**This is to replace my other story "Halo: The Chaos of War". This story will take place during the same time frame and in the same place, but the plot has changed and i have a new cast of characters. I hope you'll like this one just as much!!! :D**

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A large explosion boomed overhead, prompting the pinned ODSTs to duck for cover behind the destroyed warthog. A shower of dirt rained over them as their ears rang in the middle of the raging battle.

Captain Shane Bekker jumped up and fired several rounds into the swarming covenant mass. The turret let loose several molten hot bursts in reply. "Shit!" Shane shouted to his team. To his radio operator, he screamed, "Where's that backup?!"

Sergeant Robert Craig ducked instinctively as another explosion boomed close by. "They said it could be about five minutes, sir!"

"Five minutes?!" screamed PFC Brian "Rook" Walker. "We'll be dead by then!"

"Shut your mouth!" yelled the captain in response. A plasma grenade flew from the Covenant mass and exploded near the group of five ODST, again showering them in dirt. The destroyed warthog they were hiding behind moved abruptly as another grenade exploded near it.

_We're gonna get killed here,_ thought Shane. He switched his battle rifle from his right hand to his left and peeked over the warthog. There were three brutes and ten or so grunts, one manning a turret. He swore silently and looked at the four marines next to him.

"Guys! We need to fall back to that shop back there!" he yelled as he pointed about fifty meters behind them to what had been a shop, but was now a half-collapsed pile of rubble. "From there we'll set up defenses and wait for reinforcements. Read me?"

"Sir, yes, sir!" they shouted back.

"Let's move!" Shane shouted as he blindly threw a grenade over the warthog and stood to run.

Almost immediately, the turret belched out several bursts of plasma before being overturned by the grenade. The other Covenant though, continued to fire.

"Keep moving!" yelled Shane over the noise. Then, a marine in front of him, Corporal Rodney "Coop" Cooper, stumbled as a spike embedded itself in his calf muscle. Shane quickly caught the marine and wrapped his arm around the back of his neck. "Move!"

As they neared the destroyed shop, he ran as fast as his legs could carry him and his injured friend. With a grunt, he roughly pushed Coop through one of the windows and then jumped in after him. Unfortunately, he landed on top of his friend, who yelped loudly.

Shane focused on being careful and staying below the window, through which several kinds of Covenant projectiles were flying and hitting the back wall. Looking around frantically he spotted the team medic: Sergeant Richard "Ricky" Bond.

"Ricky! Get over here!" Shane yelled. The medic glanced over, and then shuffled over to his friends. "I'll cover you!" Shane shouted.

He then got on his knees and jumped up over the window frame, searching for enemies. The street before him was almost completely littered with debris from the surrounding buildings and vehicles. A chopper carcass rested the right, half buried in rubble from a collapsed building. The destroyed warthog sat in the middle, a large crater was where the ODSTs had been hiding earlier. Every building on the block showed scars from the countless fights carried out on these streets.

A brute then jumped up from the behind the warthog, shaking Shane from his trance. His lightning fast reflexes automatically aimed his gun at the monster's head before it could fire the spiker in its hand. The brute stumbled back as its helmet flew off. Shane pumped another three rounds into the monster's head, exploding the monster's head in a shower of blood and brains.

Several grunts appeared crawling over the rubble. Shane watched his marines dispatch them before they could near any further. Their lifeless carcasses joined the rest of the debris.

The other two brutes appeared quickly, jumping over the debris as if it were a bump in the road. The marines immediately fired at them as they moved on either side of the street, ducking behind cover. Robert pulled the pin on a grenade and screamed, "Fire in the hole!"

The black object landing only inches from one of the brutes. The monster didn't even have enough time to scream before the explosion completely mangled him. Rook laid down suppressive fire on the last brute as the other was killed. Then, from a building on the left, several weapons let loose on the lone Covenant soldier, killing him quickly, if not viciously.

Silence then filled the street as the reinforcements started coming out of the building. Shane listened to the distant gunfire and explosions. The silence seemed so out of place nowadays.

He shook his head to clear it as his ODSTs exited the shop, except for Ricky and Coop. Coop looked up at his captain with gritted teeth as Ricky put in the biofoam. "I'm good Cap. I can fight."

Shane knelt next to him, "You sure? We can call a pelican…" he trailed off as Coop got to his feet, using the window frame for support.

"No, they're probably all too busy fighting. I'm good," to prove it, he hefted his assault rifle and limped out of the building.

The captain shook his head and looked at the reinforcements. Three marines and four ODSTs. One of the Helljumpers removed his helmet, revealing a large cut on his left cheek. Dried blood had hardened to his face and on his neck.

"Sergeant Connor Triten. They call me 'Guns'," he said with a smile.

"Captain Shane Bekker. They call me Shane," he replied with a laugh.

Guns pointed back behind him to the seven newcomers. "Found all these guys running around. We could use some help…" he trailed off as Shane looked to the sky, sheer terror etched in his features. Every man present turned to face the single biggest explosion any of them had thought possible.

The explosion cause by the Prophet of Regret's jump into slipspace.

Shane acted first, looking behind him back into the shop they'd just come from. "Come on!" he screamed over the growing noise.

Without looking back to see if the others had followed, he jumped into the shop and looked all over the building for safety. Looking at a gaping hole in the floor, he shrugged and glanced back at them. They were just now running into the shop and jumping into the hole as the explosion hit the end of the long street.

Instinct then took over as the ODST captain jumped into the hole with his men. It was small and didn't offer much protection, but it had to do. The ground shook violently and dust poured on the soldier hiding from the fiery wrath outside. Shane dropped to the ground with the rest and covered his head in a last desperate attempt to save himself.

As the entire building shuddered yet again, Shane then worried about its structure. As he glanced up at the ceiling, the shop collapsed atop the hiding troops, burying them…

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	2. Chapter 2: Operation: MARATHON

Shane slowly opened his eyes. The first sight that met his eyes was the mangled face of another marine. Barely able to move, Shane simply closed his eyes and realized his worst fear had come true: the building had collapsed.

He coughed and attempted to get on his hands and knees, but a large weight on top of him prevented that. He tried to get a good look at what it might be but could see nothing.

With nothing to do, he simply lay still, and waited for the rest of his soldiers to awaken…

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Hours later, he heard another cough. His eyes flew open and he listened again. A groan then escaped the lips of another soldier as Shane listened to rubble move.

"Call in!" he yelled, before coughing profusely.

The other marine coughed too and looked around the dark room. "Cap?" asked the voice.

Shane sighed. It was Coop. "I'm over here buddy, I think I've got a whole bunch of rubble on top of me. I can't move."

Then he felt Coop's presence near him and then a sigh. "No. It's Bob, sir. He's dead."

Shane said nothing as the weight was rolled off of him. He simply stared into the darkness as Coop dragged him next to a wall and propped him up. Shane took in the sight before him, as his eyes adjusted to the darkness.

The once empty room was filled with rubble and debris. He spotted a few bodies amongst it all but couldn't tell whether they were dead or alive. Above them, the entire building was gone, and above them were grey clouds. A sharp crack of lightning followed by a boom of thunder added to the devastation.

He didn't even notice that Coop was sifting through the debris, looking for survivors. "Hey! I found the Rook!" he yelled.

Shane simply watched as the young, dust-covered ODST was pulled from the rubble. He coughed fitfully and didn't fight as Coop sat him next to Shane. Shane said nothing as Coop kept digging.

"Here's Guns! And some of his marines!" yelled Coop again.

As the minutes went by, Coop found several more of Guns' ODSTs, but none of the rest of his squad. Ricky and Bob were dead. The captain sighed and looked at his dirty battle rifle as the clouds finally let loose the rain.

_Get up. There's still a war to be fought,_ he told himself. With a grimace, he stood and hefted his weapon. Guns sat down near him, coughing and dusting himself off.

Shane gripped his shoulder. "Guns, how many do you have?"

The sergeant stood with one last cough and looked around him. "I've got two ODSTs and two marines, not including myself."

Shane nodded. "I've got two left. The other two were killed in the collapse."

Guns patted his arm and looked down. After a few seconds, he looked up and asked, "What caused that explosion? I've never seen anything like that. It wasn't from the Covenant glassing the planet because then we'd be dead. So what else could it be?"

Shane shook his head and looked into the sky. "I don't know…"

"Sir! Bob's radio!" yelled Rook.

The ODST captain turned as the rookie held out the dead man's radio to him. Shane held it to his ear and listened through the static.

"To all survivors, the Prophet of Regret is gone, repeat: Gone. He jumped into slipspace within the city. _In Amber Clad_ is in pursuit…"

Guns shook his head. "'In pursuit'? How?"

Shane hushed him as the radio spoke again. "We've received reports that the UNSC Cruiser _Sword and Shield _went down during the event. Survivors aboard it are requesting rescue and extraction. Saying they're surrounded by countless Covenant soldiers. Marines, please respond."

Shane and Guns looked at each other. The _Sword and Shield_ was a Marathon-class cruiser. Over three times the length of the _In Amber Clad_. Something that big would leave huge amounts of devastation in its wake. But there were survivors, and something that size would be a good place to dig in and survive until help arrived.

Shane looked behind them. "Where's the mike to this thing?!" Moments later, Rook ran up with the device. Quickly, Shane spoke into it. "Control, this is… well this is ODST group Foxtrot. What is the location of the crashed cruiser?"

The voice at the other end of the connection gave them the location. At least two miles outside of New Mombasa. They said near the wreck of the Space Elevator. That was news to Guns and Shane, they hadn't even been out in the open yet and didn't even know that it had collapsed.

The voice also said it had left a trail of destruction nearly a mile long, from falling debris and from the crash itself.

Shane nodded with the information and stepped away from the rest of the soldiers in the room except for Guns. "Sir, be honest. How many survived the Prophet's jump into slipspace?"

There was a sigh. "We aren't sure yet honestly. We've been broadcasting this for a while and there have only been a few responses. Now, that may either be because there were casualties, or the EMP may have taken out all their radios. We aren't sure."

"I'm sorry, sir. Did you say 'EMP'?"

"Yes, sometimes in the wake of a jump it leaves an EMP blast. I don't know why it only effects certain pieces of equipment, but it could completely kill any technology."

Shane nodded with this new information. "Yes, sir. I understand."

"You know your assignment, soldier. If you find any survivors along the way, bring them too."

"Yes, sir."

"Good luck. We're now commencing Operation: MARATHON."

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	3. Chapter 3: Minus One

Shane gasped as his eyes first drank in the side of the devastated city around them. The once lively city was dark and silent. Light posts lay strewn through the street along with several new vehicles and more debris. Shane could barely believe they'd been fighting on the same street only hours before.

The rest of the dirt covered marines stepped out into the rain and looked around them with a similar reaction. Guns shook his head, "Unbelievable…"

Shane turned as the sergeant trailed off. He playfully punched the other man in the arm, getting his attention. "Come on. We've gotta mission."

"Where are we?" asked one of the marines clad in green. Guns introduced him simply as "J".

Shane nodded to him and looked around them. Almost the entire city had been changed by the blast and was nearly unrecognizable. "Good question," he mumbled. On the ground next to him was a road sign that had been knocked off its stand. With the stand itself nowhere in sight, the sign and its information was basically completely useless.

The captain turned to face the soldiers. "Okay. We need to figure out where we are. Control said the _Sword and Shield_ is two miles to the east of where the space elevator was…" he trailed off and started frantically looking about for the one last sign.

Then, in the distance, he saw the base of the elevator. It was burning badly in many places and what was left of the tower itself was bent badly until it hit the point where the upper half had completely broken off. Twisted and mangled metal and parts of the structure were all that remained.

The rest of the marines looked at it with him. One of the new ODSTs, nicknamed "Snipe" for his unusual marksmanship skills, said quietly, "The blast must've done too much damage for it to still stand."

Shane nodded to himself and looked at them again. "Okay, Control said if we follow the wreckage, we'll find the ship. That's what we gotta do. Not too hard."

Above them, they suddenly heard a whine as a phantom materialized over the tops of some of the buildings. First all the men simply stared up at the drop ship in horror, before turning and running back into the hole they'd been in for the last several hours.

"Think it saw us?" asked Rook quietly in the darkness.

Shane shrugged as best he could while lying prone and continued to listen. The rain outside intensified, and the two different noises began to blend together. All the captain could do was close his eyes and pray as he listened.

After what seemed like hours, the whining stopped as the aerial vehicle flew off into the cold night. Guns looked first, slowly raising his head over the rubble to see what was there. He ducked his head down sharply and swore.

"Brutes. It dropped off a bunch of brutes," reported the younger man.

Shane nodded his understanding and tried to see. "They must be looking for survivors." He then glanced back behind him, scanning the walls of what was left of the building's basement. "Look for a way out, guys! I don't want to fight a whole pack of brutes."

In the darkness the ODSTs and the two outnumbered marines started sifting through the rubble along the walls, looking for weaknesses or faults. After several, agonizing seconds of silence, a marine waved them over as he kept moving dirt with his other hand. After seeing its uselessness, he threw off his helmet and used it to shovel out the dirt.

Shane glanced back up into where the building had once been and to his horror saw the head of a brute, scanning the wreckage. Panic swept through him momentarily as he looked at the marines trying to clear the hole. _Come on, come on, come on,_ he thought to himself frantically as he watched.

"Okay, done!" whispered the marine fiercely. He then tossed his weapon through and then started to wiggle his way through.

Meanwhile, the brute was getting closer. Shane grabbed Guns' arm and pointed at the monster as he crouched behind some rubble. Guns mouthed, "What do we do?"

Shane shook his head in reply and watched as the marines continued to clear out of the basement. They needed to give them enough time to get most of the marines out. He doubted the brutes could follow them through the hole…but then again they could just break down the wall. For the moment, he would focus on making sure his marines got out.

He held his breath as another appeared, and their four eyes swept through the darkness. Then, one of the swiveling heads stopped right on him and Guns, eyes locked on. The two marines opened fire before the brute could yell a warning. Some of the rounds ripped through his mouth, mangling everything inside and nearly destroying the back of his head.

Some of the marines stopped and turned around to see why their leaders were firing. Three more still need to get out before Shane and Guns. Shane waved toward them with urgency and screamed, "Get out! We'll cover you!"

He didn't look back to see if they'd obeyed. The other brutes were now filing into the buildings remains, trying to see the source of the racket… and kill it.

Shane grit his teeth as he fired into another brute, its armor simply absorbing the rounds. He shook his head and re-aimed his battle rifle for the monsters chin. At the angle he was at, the rounds ripped through the brute's head and out the top, showering the others in blood.

He was so into the fight, that he almost killed Guns, who was grabbing his arm. "Come on!" the other man yelled. "The others are out! You get out first! I'll cover you!"

Before Shane could react, he was tossed toward the hole in the wall. He glanced back momentarily before quickly crawling under. Outside, the rain pelted him again and the sounds of the other battle were muffled. Shane sighed as he rested on the other side of the wall. The bloody mud soaked his armor and uniform as he rested.

A hand on his back startled him. "Sir, you okay?" It was Rook.

He nodded and got to his feet. Right behind him, came Guns, moving at twice the speed he had. Before he was halfway through, he yelled to them, "Move! They're coming!"

Then, to the horror of the other marines, he stopped with a yelp…and started being dragged back into the building. His ODSTs reacted first by grabbing his arms. "Sir!" they yelled.

Shane moved to help as one of the brutes burst through the wall in a shower of dust and debris. The other marines were simply horrified. The monster now towered over them as they attempted to save their leader, growling and exposing his sharp, yellow teeth.

Guns yelped again, and was yanked further back and out of the hands of his ODSTs. They clawed feebly at the mud as he disappeared behind the wall. Meanwhile, Shane, Coop, and Rook had opened fire on the towering brute. The monster held up an arm to shield himself as another brute appeared from behind him.

Shane fired at them both, and then shook his head sadly. "Retreat!" he screamed to them as he got to his feet.

"But Guns! They got him!" yelled one of the ODSTs.

"They'll get you guys too and then you'll never save him!" the captain yelled as he fired into the brutes now filing out of the building. "Move, now!"

This time, everyone listened and got to their feet. Some stumbled through the mud as they ran through the streets and away from the skirmish. The brutes didn't bother to follow, but simply took their trophy with them.

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**Yes. Problems for the good guys. They're now minus one and they need as many men as they can get. Tell me what you think, guys!!!**


	4. Chapter 4: New Morning

A new day started in New Mombasa. The sun's light barely illuminating the sky as appeared over the horizon. Its light did nothing to lift the spirits of the abandoned marines.

They had hidden in the lobby of what had used to be a hotel, each completely focused on their own tasks. Shane sat in silence, cleaning his weapon. Coop and Rook had decided it to be a prime opportunity to sleep, and had each claimed a couch in the large room. Snipe sat in a corner examining his sniper rifle and battle rifle. J, now returning from the bar, offered his green-armored companion some crackers. The last ODST was sulking in a corner near Snipe.

Shane looked up at the two marines who had yet to name themselves and said casually, "You know, I don't think I know your names, you two." He motioned to the two unnamed marines with a portion of his weapon.

The green marine finished chewing his food and said, "PFC Terry Fowler. Everyone calls me 'Rascal' since I'm the youngest in my squad."

Rook stirred with a laugh. "Sweet. Another private first class! Now I'm not the only one!"

Rascal laughed a little and then started eating his crackers again and talking to J. Shane smiled for a moment then looked at the last ODST in the corner. "What about you?" he asked.

The black helmet slowly swiveled over in Shane's direction. "Shawn," he said simply before looking down again.

Shane could understand his sadness. He'd lost many leaders in the field, but not in the way Shawn had. To be holding him one second and then to have him slip away so easily and be so close…

Shane wondered if he should've attacked rather than run. No, there were too many coming to fast. Besides, they might've killed him as soon as they'd gotten a hold of him…

He needed to stop thinking about it. His decision had been made and because of it they were all still alive. And they had a mission to do. The captain had no idea how his superiors expected them to be able to pull this off, but they had to try.

As he finished cleaning his weapon, he checked it over and shouted to the rest of the men, "Five minutes, boys. Then, we're gonna move out."

"Where we going now, sir?" asked Snipe, strapping his sniper rifle to his back and hefty the battle rifle.

"The crash site." The men stopped suddenly and looked at him in shock. Shane was surprised himself. "Where else did you think we were going?"

"Well… not there," said Rook, getting to his feet and picking up his assault rifle.

"Yeah, shouldn't we get supplies or more reinforcements first or something?" asked Coop, still lying on the couch with a shotgun resting on his stomach.

Shane sighed. "We can look for more supplies on the way and reinforcements on the way but in the conversation I had with the COs, they sounded very desperate. We need to move now. Those are the orders, so lock and load."

The men grumbled to themselves, but Shane paid them no mind as he picked up his weapon and gear. Going to the shattered remains of the doors, he checked the streets for any brute patrols, but thankfully, none were around.

"Okay guys, coast is clear," he said as he turned. The six marines were standing behind him, waiting for the order to go. Shane looked at Coop's shotgun. "Coop, take point, and go into that building there," he said as he pointed across the street. "we'll be right behind you."

"Yes, sir," he said as he bolted through the door.

The men behind him gave him three seconds before jogging after him in a rough line. Shane went last, following the sullen ODST Shawn. His heart pounded in his ears as he ran across the shattered street, praying no Covenant would try to surprise him.

After about ten seconds, they found themselves in the ruins of a small shop. The sun's full form was now visible on the horizon as they left that shop, jogging down the street toward there mission.

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**Short chapter, yes. I'm hoping to update soon. Tell me what you guys think! GuardianXAngel, thanks for adding this to your alert list!!! It means a lot!**


	5. Chapter 5: Slow and Steady Wins the Race

**Thanks for the first review! I really like writing this chapter so i hope you guys like reading it!!! Some urban warfare.**

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By midday, the group had only made it about a mile away from where they'd started. Brute patrols, circling phantoms, and Covenant turret emplacements had slowed them down to what seemed like a crawl.

Shane peeked around a corner, carefully scanning the area for any brutes or turrets. Several burned bodies lying in the middle of the street gave it an eerie feeling that made the hair on the back of his neck rise. The temperature had risen to an uncomfortable level that made the city feel like one giant, dead oven.

The captain gulped as he scanned the area, wishing he'd filled his canteen at the hotel. He made a mental note to fill it next time they stopped for a breather, but that shouldn't be for a while. The base of where the space elevator had been was still a ways away and that was only half the journey. After that, they'd follow the wreckage two miles east and then find the crash site and save the survivors. After that… he had no clue. But they'd deal with that when the time came.

Meanwhile, the coast was clear. Silently he waved the marines forward and out onto the dead streets of New Mombasa.

The noise made by the six marines seemed uncomfortably loud in the silence of the streets. Shane winced as he watched them run from cover out to an alley across the street, armor and weapons clanking and boots stomping. As they reached the alley most kept moving, but Snipe turned back and waved him over while scanning the street for Covenant.

As Shane entered the shadow of the alley, he sighed and looked at the base of the once mighty tower in the distance. "So far," he whispered to himself. _Can't think that way,_ he said to himself.

Forgetting it, he looked out across the empty streets. It was a long street with several tall buildings at the far end. They seemed to be at the top of hill as the rest of the street before them sloped down until flattening out in front of the structures. As he started to wave the men forward, Sniped stopped him.

"Sir, this is perfect sniper territory," he whispered. Shane turned and looked at him in surprise. The younger man pointed to the buildings at the end. "See those, tons of snipers could just be sitting there waiting for someone to wander out onto that street. I'm a sniper I know how they would think," he finished, hammering the point home.

Shane looked at the distant structures with a nod. "I trust your judgment." He turned to face the marksman. "But how do we get across. We need to get to the tower," he said as he nodded toward the dominant structure.

Snipe looked around Shane at the buildings and down the street. "We'll just have to run for it. One at a time."

Shane nodded and looked at Coop. "Take point," he said.

Coop nodded before bolting out on the open ground. The nearest form of cover was a dumpster that had been thrown from its original position, wherever that was, out in front of another alleyway. Coop slid in behind the cover as if it were a baseball base, kicking up dust and dirt. Then, he got to his feet and walked down the alley, shotgun at the ready.

Shane didn't wait for him to wave them over. He nodded to Rook, who did likewise. The operation took a painful ten minutes to carry out. Crossing a street… turned into a multilevel ordeal, over a few snipers.

Finally, his turn came. We wasted no time waiting for the others to wave him over but simply ran for dear life. The thought of a sniper having him on his scope gave him an extra boost as he ran into the shadow of the buildings.

No one wanted to wait anymore, so he jogged over to the alleyway entrance and peeked out. But perhaps a little too far, as the wall next to his face exploded in a small dusty boom. He shook the dust out of his face and crouched down to see the source of the fire.

On his left, the street was blocked by a large pile of debris consisting of rubble, vehicles, and road signs. The untidy mass offered several good options for cover though. On his right, a Covenant turret emplacement set up after the catastrophic explosion was firing into the wall where his face had been. A brute captain roared to the gunner to fire accurately and quit wasting the ammo.

Shane took the opportunity to throw a grenade toward the purple gun. With a satisfying boom that shook the ground and threw the brute off his feet, the grenade detonated beneath the turret, effectively rendering it useless. He grinned but kept moving. "Move! To cover!" he yelled as he got to his feet and ran toward the pile of debris.

The men followed suit as he lay prone next to a roads sign and began firing into the grunts and jackals. The brute then got to his feet, only to be mercilessly pelted with lead until he finally toppled over dead.

After that, the short fight seemed to be over. The only things left to shoot were the retreating grunts.

Shane smiled as his battle rifle finished the last one. Once again, silence filled the ghost town. He got to his feet and looked at the sight. "Check for survivors and destroy the equipment. Let's leave them with nothing useful," he ordered quickly as he inserted a new magazine.

The men immediately obeyed, pulling the pins on grenades before setting them beneath the radio equipment and running. After a few seconds, it was completely useless. Not to mention in pieces.

The two ODSTs who'd destroyed it ran after their companions, who were already jogging through a small park. The play equipment was mangled beyond comprehension. Looking more like something Picasso would've dreamt up in his abstract mind.

They moved past the park and didn't stop moving for another tenth of mile, where they met another turret emplacement. From there, they ran into snipers, who pinned them down and forced them to move back even further from where they'd started and take another route.

As the sun began to set, Shane shook his head in frustration. Maybe they'd covered two miles that day. Maybe. And his canteen was still empty. He growled to himself as they sat to rest in another alleyway. The silence stretched between the men for what seemed like hours as they reloaded and checked their weapons…

Until the gunshots were heard. They came from a distance, a quarter mile at least. But the sound carried well through the streets and cut through the silenced like a knife. Snipe was the first to react, his sniper senses fully alert.

"You guys hear that?" he asked, reminding Shane of a meerkat. He laughed inwardly at the comparison.

The sniper got to his feet, as did Coop, who said, "Yeah." The silence stretched out again as they listened to the exchange. "Sounds like a battle rifle. You hear the break between every three shots?"

J got to his feet then. "Could just be someone using an assault rifle wisely."

Coop shook his head. "No. The battle rifle has a very distinct break between each three shots."

Snipe smiled and nodded. "He's got you beat here, J."

Rascal and Rook looked at the more senior soldiers. "How do you guys know this?" asked Rascal.

"You stay hidden somewhere for three days on end. Listening to the battle from a distance as you wait for a target, your ears get used to identifying the sounds of weapons from a distance. It's mainly a sniper thing," explained Snipe.

"What about me?" asked Coop. "I'm not a sniper."

Snipe smiled and put a hand on the other man's shoulder. "You're right, you're a freak of nature."

Shane laughed as Coop acted enrage and pretended to beat the marksman. At least they could still enjoy being around each other in situations like this. That was something he wished he learned back years ago.

As night fell, he looked around at the dark city. "Hey! Guys!" he shouted to get their attention. Once he had it, he said, "I think it would be better if we moved at night. More camouflage and maybe they'll be less alert. What do you guys think?"

"Sounds good," said J.

"Works for us," said the rookies.

The rest of the group gave their consent. The captain smiled as he got to his feet. "Very well then. Let's get moving."

"But we've only been resting for five minutes, sir!" protested Shawn.

Shane was glad to see some life back in the man. "Well, if you guys wanna move at night…" he simply motioned to the night sky to finish the statement for him.

The men looked at the darkness. "Is it too late to change answers?" asked Coop, making everyone laugh.

The captain laughed too. "Um, yeah. Let's go you guys. If we can make it to the tower by dawn, I'll personally you all some steaks and we'll have a barbeque."

The men shared another laugh as they trudged out onto the open ground again. Coop cheered and shouted back, "We'll hold you to that!"

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	6. Chapter 6: Complications

**Glad to hear everyone's enjoying the story!!!**

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By about two in the morning, the group had made it another mile closer to the tower. The massive form loomed overhead, only a tenth of a mile away.

The group of seven marines rested in a small shop for a few minutes before pressing on again, fighting total exhaustion.

Shane looked outside the shop, checking for enemies in the night before waving the rest of the men forward. They seemed twice as loud as before in the silent darkness of the night. Not even the crickets were out to give the city a little life. They seemed to be the only life for miles.

The silence of the radio made that feeling feel even more intense: As if they were the only life left on earth. No one had made contact with them after the initial conversation, when they'd heard about the crash.

No UNSC ships flew overhead either. They were either preoccupied with the battle in space, or pursuing Regret's ship to far away galaxies.

They felt completely alone. Just them… and the Covenant army.

Shane sighed as he jogged with the men through the middle of the dead streets. The line of men wound itself in between debris and charred vehicles. They ignored the varieties of bodies littering the streets as well. Best not to think about the death, just the mission.

Coop, who by now always took point, held up a fist as he came up to a corner. The group stopped behind him and dropped to a crouch to scan the surrounding buildings while he checked out the next street. After a few seconds he turned around and said, "Lots of Covenant ahead."

"Well, how many?" asked Rook, glancing at Coop.

Coop looked around the corner again and shook his head. "Too many for just us to take. Looks like a small outpost in this building up ahead. Lots of turrets and… shit. They've got ghosts too."

"Damn," Shane muttered as he got up to see. Everything Coop described was there. At least twenty brutes stomped around giving orders. He spotted the chieftain in the back with his gravity hammer. "No way we're getting through that."

"What do we do?" asked J.

Shane looked back behind them at the buildings and debris. Then he looked at the street directly in front of them. The outpost was on the street to their right, but directly in front of them was the tower, standing above them. That's where they needed to be. Again, he glanced back.

"Let's backtrack and find an alleyway to the left. We'll find another road to the tower. Move out," he said, waving behind them.

They grumbled to themselves as they ran back up the street, looking for a way around the brute outpost. After a few minutes, they found a small pathway in between two buildings, only wide enough for one man. Shane was on point this time, and slowly looked out at the street in front of them. Nothing. Then he looked down the street to their right.

Damn. Another turret emplacement and they had nowhere else to go. He looked closely at the brute captain who had his back turned to them. The captain guessed that since it was still dark he figured no one would be out. The grunts and jackals were all asleep.

Shane looked at the men behind him and held up a finger to his lips, telling them to keep quiet. Once they nodded their understanding, Shane bolted from the alley. He didn't even look at the turret emplacement as he sprinted past it.

When he made it across the street, he dove behind a dumpster and got ready to wave the rest of the team over. He checked the turret emplacement again. Same as before. Bored brute and sleeping grunts. Even so, he had his weapon ready in case the brute finally got bored enough to turn around.

He checked one last time, and then waved them over. The group crossed the street and passed him silently and ran on down the next street. Once they'd all passed, he followed them. They stopped again at the corner of another building, and Coop, who was on point, swore loudly.

"Another outpost," he reported.

The group groaned, but the rookies were worried. "Why are there so many, sir?" asked Rascal.

Before Shane could reply, Snipe cut in saying, "It only makes sense. The closer we get to the center of the city the more guards and patrols they'll have. Taking and holding the center of the city is better than building a wall around it. You hold the center, it's yours."

"So there's only going to be more brutes the further in we go?" asked Rook.

"Yeah. Unfortunately."

Shane looked at the outpost down the street. Despite his many years of experience, urban warfare and strategy wasn't his thing. "What can we do?" he asked the sniper.

Snipe shrugged. "Either fight our way in and hide, quietly take out an isolated group and get in that way, or just find a secret way in. After that though, it's only going to get harder."

"We'll worry about that later," declared Shane. "We should find an isolated group. Where might that be?"

Snipe shrugged again, but this time shook his head as well. "I have no clue. I don't know this city. Usually they'll have outposts stationed around the whole center of the city. Evenly spaced. Unless terrain makes that impossible."

"Any chance of that here?" asked Coop, asking the very question that had popped into Shane's mind.

Snipe took a moment to respond and he grimaced. "Probably not. New Mombasa is probably one of the easiest cities for them to defend. The terrain around it is flat for the most part so the outposts and defenses could all be evenly spaced."

Shane sighed and was getting frustrated. "Is there any other option? Besides running in there guns blazing."

Snipe looked confused. "Why would that be bad?" he asked.

"It'd be fine if our objective was to take the city, but we're not here to do that. All we're here for is the crash site. We're just unfortunate enough to be stuck on the other side of the city. We want to move as quietly as possible through the city so we don't attract unnecessary attention, or worse accidently lead them to the crash site to ambush us and the survivors. Now, is there any way we can sneak past some of these outposts?" he asked again.

The sniper sighed and looked at the outpost down the street. He shook his head and speculated, "No way are we sneaking past that one right there." He looked at Shane. "I'd suggest we continue to work our way through the streets and look for any possibilities of sneaking past them. That's all we can do really."

The captain knew this was the best option he would get in this situation. He nodded to himself. "Okay. Let's keep moving then. We'll find a way through."

* * *

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	7. Chapter 7: In the Meantime

"Bingo!" whispered Snipe with a grin. "There it is, sir."

Shane looked down the street and then grimaced. "Snipe, that turret emplacement is larger than the last three," he growled. It was true. The street was blocked by their purple roadblocks and behind them were three turrets, all manned and alert. Dawn was breaking and everyone was waking up, which would be a problem. Behind the roadblocks were several brutes and many scurrying grunts and jackals. Shane couldn't see how they could sneak past that. "Snipe I think the heat has baked your little sniper brain," he said.

Snipe laughed a little and pointed again. "No, sir. In front of it. See that manhole? Down in front? All the sewer systems lead to the center of the city. We'll just drop down in there and go under the outpost." The marksman smiled at his plan.

The captain had to admit that it was a relatively ingenious plan. But there was one problem… "How do we get in the manhole without getting spotted?" asked Shane.

"Um… yeah, well," the sniper looked out again. "Well, we could wait until it's dark again."

"What?!" whispered Coop fiercely. "We just got here!"

"We've been moving all night!" followed up Shawn.

Snipe held up his hands in surrender. "I know. Maybe we could catch up on some shut-eye."

The men groaned. Shane looked at the scene again. This was probably the best opportunity they'd get, they couldn't risk losing it. "Okay. We're gonna hide in one of these buildings here, until dark."

"But there's barely any light, it's barely dawn!" complained J.

"Shut up, soldier!" He continued, "In the meantime, let's catch up on some sleep, look for food, and try the radio. Maybe we can find some more survivors."

Seeing that there leader had made his final decision, the men complied.

At the corner of the street, they spotted a small café, and decided it would serve them nicely. They holed up in the loft on the second floor. From there, Snipe had a good view of the outpost, as well as the other two streets. The fourth, street was behind them and out of view, but hopefully no Covenant would discover them, and they wouldn't need to watch that street.

Shane set the radio down on a table and turned it on. Static. Nothing more. He sighed as he picked up the mike and started broadcasting, "Survivors, this is ODST group Foxtrot radioing for assistance. Please respond. Over." Static in response.

The captain shook his head and looked at the rest of his men. Coop was tending to his injured leg. Shane had almost forgotten he was injured. The rest of the men were sleeping or looking for food. J and Shawn walked up the stairs holding several boxes.

"What's in there?" asked Shane.

They set down the boxes on the floor. "Food, sir. Hopefully it's still good. It was in the freezer so… it should be okay."

They sifted through the findings. Mostly it was bread, but they had some fresh fruits as well, and some frozen vegetables. Most of it was still good, but they needed to wait for it to thaw. Shane smiled. "While you're waiting, how about you take a look around the streets."

The two men looked up, shocked. "What are we looking for?" asked Shawn.

"Just watch for brute patrols and let us knew when some come."

The men groaned and started heading down the stairs. Coop got to his feet. "I'll go with them, sir."

"You sure?" asked Shane.

"Yeah. It'll be nice to stretch my legs." With that, the marine jogged down the stairs.

* * *

Wind whistled in between the buildings as the three lonely marines trudged through the streets. Silence stretched between them for a while before Shawn finally asked, "Think we can pull off this mission?"

The other two shrugged. "Depends on the Covenant really. We'll need to see what they're doing with that ship. I imagine they've got a whole bunch of men surrounding it."

"So, if there's a lot of Covenant, what will we do?"

"Fight," replied Coop quickly. "We can't leave them behind to be killed. Even if that means some of us will be killed. We'll keep fighting." Shawn gulped quietly, making Coop ask, "What rank are you?"

Shawn looked away. "A corporal."

"You ever seen combat before?"

"No. I was headed to a colony before the attack on the planet started. They rerouted us back to New Mombasa then. My CO got sniped as soon as we jumped off the pelican, so I got promoted. But this is the first combat I've seen."

"How'd you know Guns?"

"Guns was a good friend of mine before the war. He went into ROTC to become an officer. After a few years he encouraged me to join. Then the war started. We were headed separate ways but found each other before Regret jumped into slipspace."

Everything made more sense to them now. Losing Guns was hardest on him because they were friends before. And he was scared in combat because he'd never really fought before. Rook and Rascal probably had more experience than him. Poor guy.

The silence stretched on again for a while. Then they heard a roar up ahead.

The sound made the marines stop in their tracks. "What was that?" asked Shawn.

"Sounded like a brute roar," decided J.

Seconds later, they heard gunshots… from a human weapon!

"Survivors!" yelled Coop.

The three men charged forward in the direction of the sounds, hoping they wouldn't be too late when they got there. After a couple hundred yards, they came to a corner of a street where the sounds seemed to be coming from. Coop held up a fist to stop them as he checked on what was going on.

Three brutes were crouched behind a row of burning vehicles, firing into a shop. From the shop were two, no three, weapons firing at the monsters. Coop wasted no time, and charged after the three brutes, firing his shotgun. J and Shawn followed suit.

The monsters were surprised to say the least. Before he could react, the first brute found himself only inches in front of the shotgun barrel as it fired. Practically blew his head off. Shawn and J fired at the second, as Coop looked at the third. He was still firing his spiker into the building, and when Coop heard a scream from inside it, he decided that was enough.

He jumped over the brute carcass in front of him and fired his shotgun into the brute's side. The rounds hit him in the side, making him stop firing his weapon as he doubled over in pain. Coop finished him with three shots to the body and one to the head.

J and Shawn finished the second right after that. Coop, still on an adrenaline rush, looked around for more enemies, but there were none. The three marines then walked over to the shop to see how many had survived.

Three dead bodies lay on the ground, most with spikes sticking out of their chests. Two were still alive; one was looking at one of the dead bodies, who was still bleeding. Coop guessed it was the one he'd heard just before he'd killed the brute. A red hot spike was embedded in his throat. He sighed and held out a hand to them.

"You guys okay?" he asked.

One accepted the hand and then helped up the other himself. "Yeah. Thanks."

Coop nodded. "This is J and Shawn," he said, pointing to each one. "I'm Coop."

The first one, clad in green but missing his helmet, smiled. "I'm Saint. This here is Hoot," said the marine, motioning to a fully armored ODST. "Who are you guys with?"

"There's just a bunch of us that grouped together. We're hiding in this shop here. Come on!"

* * *

Shane was worried now. He'd sent out the three of them hours ago. Snipe watched him curiously while the rookies slept. "Sir, don't worry I'm sure they can handle themselves," said the sniper.

"I know. But we're deeper in enemy territory and the brute travel in bigger packs. And you heard those gunshots!"

"I heard them."

"So… what? Where are they? Night's coming fast and if they aren't here, we'll have to leave them behind."

Before the sniper could respond. They heard several footsteps coming up the stairs. Shane and Snipe took defensive positions behind furniture as the intruders came to the top. They sighed as they saw Coop.

"Whoa, hey guys," he said. "What's with the guns?" he asked, looking at their weapons, which were pointed at him.

"We thought you guys were Covenant," explained the sniper.

Coop removed his ODST helmet, revealing a smile. "We found survivors."

"Really?!" asked the two men simultaneously.

"Yeah!" said Coop. He moved to let up the other four men behind him.

The rookies were awake now. "Survivors!" shouted Rascal.

"Yeah. This is Saint and Hoot," explained J.

Shane stepped forward, ready to shake their hands. "Captain Shane Bekker," he said. "This is group Foxtrot."

Saint nodded. "Your boys here got to us just in time. Those brutes almost had us."

Shane glanced at the three marines. "Glad they got there. You know of any other survivors?" Saint shook his head. "Well then I guess you better stick with us."


	8. Chapter 8: Sneaking In

Darkness engulfed the dead city. The group of now nine soldiers watched the light disappear, and waited for the opportunity to sneak past the outpost. Shane and the others sat in silence, until Saint asked, "What are we doing again?"

Hoot groaned. "You idiot. We've already explained this three times!"

"Sorry! I just wanna make sure I've got this right!"

"Snipe, explain it," said Shane, still looking out the window.

The sniper moved forward next to Saint. "Okay. We're waiting until that brute and the grunts all go to sleep. After that, we're going to move into the center of the city. We'll be as quiet as he can and follow the elevator wreckage through the rest of the city and then to the crash site. We'll fight off any Covenant there and save the survivors aboard it. After that…" he trailed off and shrugged.

Saint didn't ask anything after that. A while later, Shane watched the grunts manning the turret leave there posts and go to sleep. The brute stayed standing with his arms crossed and his back turned to the marines. Perfect.

Shane smiled. "Okay," he said, turning to face the men. "This is what we've been waiting for all day. Let's not mess it up."

The other eight marines nodded, and then the group headed down the stairs. Coop took point, as always, and looked at the brute. "Okay, he looks bored as hell. So we should be good to go."

Shane nodded. "Okay. You go first and move that manhole cover. We'll follow when you give the signal."

Coop nodded once, and then charged toward their objective. The men watched as he slid in next to the covering, staying low behind the barriers blocking the street. He grasped it firmly and pulled up to try and remove. They watched the effort on his face as he slowly lifted the manhole covering and tipped it on its side. But, his hand slipped, and the metal tipped over and clanged to the ground. Shane winced, and motioned for them to move back as the sound echoed off the buildings. The brute obviously heard such a noise, and turned around, spiker in hand.

"Snipe! Get ready to intervene!" he whispered fiercely.

The marksman crouched down in front of him and watched Coop. The marine in the street rolled over and pressed himself against the purple barrier. The men held their breath as the giant searched for the source of the noise.

Snipe ready to fire at the nearest sign of aggression. If the brute wanted to live another minute, he should play dumb.

The monster looked back and forth silently, moving his spiker back and forth as he scanned the streets. Coop gripped his shotgun as he lay up against the barrier, barely out of the brute's sight. He silently prayed the monster would simply go away.

After a few more seconds, he did just that. The giant put his spiker at his hip again and shook his head as he turned around. Then, the brute started pacing back and forth along the line, which could be a problem if he didn't stop.

Snipe was still ready to fire, waiting for Shane to call him off.

"Sir? What do you want me to do? I could drop him right now," said the marksman.

"Don't! If you do it'll wake the grunts, and then we'd really be screwed. Just wait and see if he stops again," declared the captain.

"Yes, sir."

Several minutes passed before the brute finally did. He stomped away from the barrier and walked over to where the grunts and jackals were huddled together sleeping. Shane sighed as he crossed his arms, and began to look at the stars overhead. Everyman breathed a sigh of relief as Coop moved forward, near the manhole. He glanced once more behind before waving them forward.

"Okay. J, you go. Snipe, I need you here to cover them," said Shane.

J wasted no time as he ran down the street toward the manhole. As soon as he'd dropped inside, Coop waved another forward. The process went on for a few minutes until it was only Snipe and Shane.

"Okay," said the captain. "You go ahead."

"No. If the brute turns around you and Coop will be screwed. I'll go last to cover you. I'm only one with a gun that can kill him in one shot," replied the sniper.

No arguments there. Shane was beginning to appreciate the man's insightfulness. "Okay, I'll go." Then Shane scurried down the street toward the manhole, and jumped inside.

Coop waved down the marksman, who quickly followed suit. Then Coop jumped in, and then the whole group was officially past the outpost and safely headed toward the center of the city.

* * *

**Pretty intense, yeah?! Eh, not really. Hope you guys are enjoying this!! I'm having a good time writing it! REVIEW!!!**


	9. Chapter 9: Directions?

"Ugh! God, it stinks down here!" complained Shawn.

The tunnel they were in was completely dark except for the light cast by the lights on their ODST helmets. It smelled of rotting fish and other things that they didn't care to identify. They were walking in filthy water, too. It clung to their boots and clothing like a parasite.

"You'll get used to it," declared Shane.

"How long do we follow this tunnel here?" asked Coop.

"Well, we could follow it all the way to the edge of the city," said the sniper.

"No. We need to follow the elevator wreckage. We need to get topside as soon as it's safe," said the captain.

"Oh God! It sucks down here!" said Rook.

"I didn't sign on for this!" said Rascal.

Shane laughed. The rookies always stuck together. "You signed on to fight. If you wanna just run in there shooting everything that moves, be my guest. But you'll be meeting God a little sooner than me."

"How do you know? Maybe I'm really a SPARTAN-II in disguise!"

"If you were a SPARTAN-II…" A shotgun then fired in the tunnel, echoing loudly off the piping. Rascal jumped and yelped as he turned in a circle, ready to shoot. Coop laughed. "then _that_ wouldn't have scared you." The laughing marine then turned to face a glare from his captain.

"You try that again, Coop, and I'll give you something to be scared of."

The other men laughed quietly as they walked on.

Shane thought to himself as they walked. They had to go topside at some point, but they had no idea how far they'd come or where they were. If they got turned around in here they could very possible end up right where they'd started. And they had to make sure they were careful. It wouldn't surprise him if they found Covenant in there.

What was he going to do after they found the ship? There was no doubt that many Covenant were there, already attacking the ship and its survivors. The thought made him walk a little faster. But what was his squad going to do? Unless they found some heave weapons, they were just eight more guns firing into hundreds of Covenant. If they stayed long near the ship, they would get trapped in it and possibly killed. They might be able to hold out inside. But then again, the Covenant might just get tired of fighting them and abandon the idea of taking prisoners and simply destroy the whole ship and everyone in it. They couldn't run anywhere. It was two miles from the city and by then Covenant air could wipe them all out, as well as wraiths firing at them from a distance. They had nothing to fight such enemies with.

The whole thing was like a nightmare.

He shook his head and kept walking in the darkness. If any Covenant did show, it'd be like a shooting gallery. There was no cover anywhere. He'd just have to pray nothing showed.

* * *

Hours later, the group stopped beneath an open manhole. Shane looked up at it curiously. Warm light was shining through it, meaning they'd walked all through the night.

The captain looked at them. "Let's see if we can go topside," he said as he started to climb the rusty ladder.

He slowly poked his head out of the manhole and looked around at the abandoned streets. No brute patrols were in sight or any turret emplacements. But, Shane couldn't tell where they were. The elevator was further away than it was before, but there was no sign of the wreckage anywhere. For all he knew, they'd backtracked. He shook his head and looked down into the hole again.

"Come on," he whispered fiercely.

He then gripped the edge of the hole and jumped out onto the dusty road. Still, no Covenant. The captain smiled to himself as he ran into one of the buildings near the hole. The rest of the men started climbing out and followed him into the building. A minute later, they were all huddled together on the floor of a nearly empty building.

"What now?" asked Shawn.

Shane looked at the space elevator base in the distance. "We need to find the wreckage. But I don't know how."

"Maybe a brute would know," said Snipe.

"So…what? We're just gonna waltz up to a brute and say, 'Oh, hello. We were looking for the wreckage left by the space elevator when you guys knocked it over, so we can follow it to a ship with a whole bunch of people inside. Can you give us directions?'" said Coop in a mocking voice.

Snipe growled but ignored him other than that. "No. If we could ambush a brute patrol or turret emplacement, we could interrogate the captain and get him to tell us directions or something!"

The captain stroked his chin as he thought to himself. "That could work… but we don't want to attract attention to ourselves. We'll have to disappear after that."

"There's tons of destruction here, sir. We could duck inside some buildings and hide easily."

Shane looked at the sniper and considered it. It could work, but there were risks… well, there were plenty of risks in this job. Finally, he looked up and nodded. "Okay. We'll wait here for a brute patrol, and then get directions. Alright?" The men nodded. "Great. So, we get to wait."

The men groaned loudly as he said this, making him laugh. "Sir, seriously, all we do is sit and wait for these frickin' brutes! Let's get out there and fight!" said Coop, standing up with his shotgun ready.

"You wanna tackle every brute in New Mombasa? Go ahead. Ask one of them for directions while you're at so the rest of us can get somewhere," said Shane.

The rest of the men chuckled as Coop sat down. His captain sure knew how to put someone in their place, but at the same time make it funny for everyone else. He hated. Mostly 'because he was the one getting put in his place. He shook his head. It didn't matter. The only thing that mattered was the mission.

So, the group waited…


	10. Chapter 10: Interrogations

Hours later, a patrol wandered into their trap. By then they'd sent half the men to sit in some of the buildings across the street. Snipe, however, was in a building at the corner of the street as a lookout.

He was the one to give them the news. "Heads up, guys. Brute patrol incoming."

The resting marines grabbed their weapons and got into defensive positions along the window frames.

Shane poked his head above it just enough to see, and said into his radio to the rest of the group. "Okay. Seven of them. Keep the captain alive. But, subdue him. Wait for my mark."

The men then waited for him to give them the signal. The brutes, totally unaware of the danger, continued on down the street. Shane waited until they were right in between his group and the group across the street. Then he yelled, "Fire!"

Snipe was the first to fire. Two shots echoed through the street before any other. One ripped right through the captain's leg, and another split a brutes head like a watermelon. Two more shots sounded off again, but by then the rest of the men had opened fire.

Shane aimed carefully at a brute minor as he turned to fire his spiker at the group in the opposite building. He pulled the trigger three times before a round hit the beast in the back of the neck. The small projectile shattered the spinal cord and vertebrae before exiting through the windpipe. The monster would've suffocated if the bullet hadn't shattered his neck bone.

He moved on to another target as the rest of the men quickly mowed down the rest of the beasts. In the end, only the wounded captain remained alive. Shane jumped out of his cover and said to Snipe, "Cover us and keep watch."

"Roger that."

The rest of the men came out to meet him, and they circled around the monster, still giving him plenty of room. The beast roared his defiance and reached for a carbine a few inches away from his hand. Shane put three rounds through his wrist. After that, the monster was compliant… to say the least.

"Where is the wreckage to the space elevator?" asked Shane.

The monster stared down the barrel of Coop's shotgun, only a foot away from his face. He growled and said slowly, "It's a quarter mile to the north."

"You sure?" asked Shane. Coop moved in closer, stressing how honest he should be.

"Yes. The wreckage took out a large section of the city. You can't miss it," he said in his deep voice.

The captain shifted his weight and finally asked, "Do your superiors know about the ship crashing near the wreckage two miles away?" He didn't see the harm in asking the brute. In a minute he wouldn't have a head.

"Of course!" laughed the brute deeply. "How could we miss it?"

"Did they send men—I mean, brutes to attack it?"

"Yes. But the survivors inside locked up the ship. We've been trying to find a way in the last couple days."

Shane closed his eyes and silently thanked God. There were survivors alive in there, and they were safe, for the moment. He opened his eyes and smiled devilishly.

"Thank you. You've been most helpful." He then nodded to Coop.

The man fired his shotgun into the monster, almost obliterating his whole head. There wasn't a face anymore and they could see part of the bone. The men were satisfied with his fate, they had no remorse for any of the brutes they'd killed.

"What do we do now?" asked Shawn.

The captain smiled. "Now, we head north." He keyed his mike and said, "Snipe. We know where to go. Get over here."

"Yes, sir," said the sniper. He could hear a little skip in the man's voice. And minutes later, when he joined them near the brute's carcass, he had a smile on his face. "So, we know where to go?"

Shane nodded. "Yup. North a quarter mile. Our buddy here," he kicked the brute's body as he said it. "said we can't miss it." Snipe and the others laughed a little at the dead alien captain. "Okay, men. We've wasted enough time. No more waiting. Let's go!"

* * *

**Please review!!!**


	11. Chapter 11: Bump in the Road

**To halofreak84, thanks for the very enthuiastic review! I really appreciate it! This chapter should drive you crazy! *evil laugh***

* * *

After walking for almost an hour through the heavily guarded region of New Mombasa, they finally found the wreckage of the elevator. The large, rusting rings had crushed everything around them and had sunk themselves deep into the ground from the force of gravity bringing it down from such a great height. The asphalt of the street was crumbled and shattered at least two meters around the actual structure of the rings. The buildings around it and underneath it were nothing but rubble now, completely destroyed by the force of the collapsing structure.

Shane stifled a gasp as they walked up to it. All the men were shocked by destruction before them and stood staring.

The destruction provided a clear view through on to the savanna in the distance. They couldn't see the ship or its trail of destruction, but they knew it was there… somewhere.

"This is… awful…" whispered Shawn.

"How… How could…? Oh, my God," muttered Rook.

Shane straightened and turned to face them. "Boys, we knew we'd see this." He turned and looked again. "Granted, it's more terrible than we ever could've imagined. But, we need to keep moving. Those people there are counting on us." All the men nodded to themselves and hefted their weapons, ready to fight. Shane smiled. "Good. Let's head out!"

* * *

They seemed to be moving quicker now. The wreckage had eliminated the need to wind between streets and around buildings. Everything was crushed.

The men climbed over the debris left the rings of the elevator; some of it was over fifty feet high, depending on how deep it'd buried itself in the ground. They had to use piled up debris or what was left of buildings to boost themselves up enough to climb over them. Shane knew they were moving faster than usual, but it still seemed far too slow. They didn't stop as much for brute patrols or have to go around buildings, but sometimes finding a way over or around the wreckage was just too difficult.

Like now…

Shane sighed as he looked at the massive amount of metal in front of him. It towered over them at nearly fifty feet, casting a shadow over the men that darkened their spirits. Coop whistled. "Damn. That's a lot of metal."

"No shit, Sherlock!" insulted J.

Coop couldn't help but laugh a little at the response. Shane stroked his unshaven chin and looked around the ring. It was in the middle of a grassy park and had no buildings around it. Beneath it was a sturdy apartment complex that was holding it up at least another ten feet. They must've been large, because the rubble spread all along the massive debris' base. He shook his head as he looked at it. The wreckage stretched along beyond the buildings to their left and right, which meant they'd have to go through or around them and go all the way around the rings. Basically, it was going to take a while. He sighed and scratched the back of his neck quietly.

"Cap?" asked Coop. "What're we gonna do?"

Shane turned and faced the men. They'd all taken a seat on or around a few of the benches in front of a destroyed park. He didn't know how the benches had survived the slipspace blast, but they were there. The captain laughed a little. "Well, we may have to go around." Then he thought. "Or…we could check and see if those buildings have basements or if there's a way under the ring—"

"Climb under _that_?!" said Rascal as he looked up and drank in the sight of the whole ring. He then looked back at his leader. "Oh, hell no."

"You wanna try that, or go all the way around this thing?" he asked them.

The men's heads rotated around as they looked at the whole structure before them, which at the top was nearly a thousand feet. They looked back at him and Coop and Snipe started walking towards him. "I'd rather get crushed by that thing rather than go all the way around. Let's start digging."

The captain and walked over toward the massive debris, with the men close behind him. The rest of the group shrugged and walked over with their leader and his two obedient companions.

Once they were right at the base of the wreckage, Shane looked up at it and sighed. "Okay, let's look along the base here for some kind of…gap or way through."

* * *

Almost a quarter mile away, a pair of banshees flew over the devastated city. They had been sent out from the central brute base in the center of the city. A simple patrol. Easy.

The pair of brute communicated to each other as they flew overhead and searched for enemies. The leader of the two, a brute captain, squinted through the banshee's sights and said to his wingman, "Brother, look down at the base of that debris. See those ant-like creatures?"

"Yes, brother," he replied. Silence stretched between them before the second said, "Humans?"

The brute captain smiled devilishly to himself as he flew lower to the ground, almost right above the buildings around them. "Yes, I think so. Let's call reinforcements and squash this threat quickly."

* * *

Shane held a hand at his brow and squinted into the sun to see the low flying banshee as it swooped down overhead. "That's not good," he muttered quietly to himself. He turned to the searching men and yelled, "Hurry it up, boys! We're gonna have company soon!"

* * *

The two brute pilots radioed in their findings to an outpost not far from where they'd spotted the soldiers. They circled overhead, watching a large group of brutes, grunts, and jackals form up outside the small hideout. After several fly-overs, nearly fifty Covenant troops were ready to hunt down the humans. The pilots smiled to themselves and flew toward their prey to watch the massacre.

* * *

Shane was nervous now. The banshees had flown over again, but they never attacked, just observed. A chill ran up his spine as he watched them disappear again. Then, someone from behind him yelled, "Sir! We found something!"

He turned around and ran over to where Coop, Rascal, and Shawn stood. They'd dug partially into a basement, and he could see into it, but not climb in. Rubble filled the room as he lay on the ground and looked into it. He sighed and said, "It's a good find, but there may be no way through. The whole building, and all the weight of the ring, fell on the first floor of this building. I doubt there'll be anyway through."

The men said nothing at first as he got to his feet and looked at them. "Well, we'll keep digging here, sir. We also found another possible way through a little ways down."

Shane nodded as they spread out to keep digging. As Snipe passed by, he grabbed the sniper's arm and drew him away from the rest of the men. "Listen, have you seen those two banshees?"

The sniper blinked and nodded as he nervously shifted his weight form one to the other. "Well, yes, sir. You think it's a threat?" he asked.

The captain looked up and saw them approaching again. "I don't know. But they're not attacking just observing…" he trailed off as he watched them circle overhead, high above the tops of the buildings. He snapped out of the trance and looked at the sniper. "I need you to keep watch. I'm afraid those things are gonna call in reinforce—"

"Sir?" interrupted Snipe as he pointed to the far end of the park. "What's that?"

Shane squinted against the sun as it began to sink below the buildings. Approaching them was a large number of Covenant, almost six times the number of men Shane had. "Shit…" he muttered to himself. He started to run toward the men who were still digging, cursing all the while, "Shit, shit, shit! Guys! Form up! We got Covenant incoming!"

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**Cliffhangar!!! Sorry, guys!!! I'll try to update soon! Please review!**


	12. Chapter 12: Out With a Bang

**Really long, intense chapter!!! I hope you guys will enjoy it!**

* * *

The digging men turned around as they heard their captain yelling to them. Their eyes widened and their jaws dropped as they looked at the rapidly approaching Covenant troops. They didn't have to be told twice by Shane, and immediately ran to positions behind benches, debris, or just simply lay on the ground, firing into them.

Shane crouched behind a large piece of debris with Coop who looked at him in confusion. "Sir! I have a shotgun! What am I gonna do at long distance?!" he yelled to him.

The captain looked at him and then back at the ring. They couldn't possibly fight off the entire approaching group of Covenant. And they couldn't go back up the street to find a way out that way. They were trapped between the elevator wreckage and the aliens. Only one way out…

"Coop," he yelled as he fired his weapon at the aliens. "Find all of us with short range weapons. Keep digging! There's only one way for us to get out of here, and that's behind us! Hurry!" The other man nodded and got up to find the others. Shane didn't watch him but continued hammering the Covenant soldiers with bullets.

They were about five hundred yards out, far enough to only be perceived as a large swarming mass. As they drew nearer, he could start to make out details about the brutes, but the other two species were still too small to see. Then, a beam rifle shot cracked next to his head, making him duck down further behind the debris. Another shot hit the cement debris, a small bit of it crumbled and fell away, leaving a burnt mark and dust. He looked at it, mesmerized… until another shot pinned him down further.

To his left he saw the majority of his team fighting to hold them off. Near the ring wreckage, there was Coop, Saint, and Hoot trying to dig them a way out. They were digging frantically with their helmets, and Coop ran back and forth between their first hole, and another smaller one. The other one wasn't as started, but Coop was frantically digging away at it.

He then looked away from them and then back at the rest of his fighting team. J and Shawn were crouched together on the far left side, Rascal was towards the middle with Rook only a few meters away. Snipe, being the sniper, was further back, laying the ground with his sniper rifle poking out between two large pieces of concrete. They seemed to holding their own, for now. Shane glanced up again, only to be pinned down yet again by a sniper rifle shot. "Shit! Snipe!" he called. The other man finally looked at him in confusion. "Hit those snipers, they're pinning us down!"

"Yes, sir!" he yelled back to his captain. He then got to a crouch and fired two shots into the mass. Shane waited as he fired a third and fourth before he got up again.

Slowly, he peeked over the debris and no sniper bullet shot near him. He saw that the mass of Covenant soldiers was drawing ever nearer, and that was enough incentive for him to get up and fight again.

The captain got to his knees and fired over the debris at a large brute with a brute shot, killing him after a few headshots. He then turned his attention to another brute directing several grunts and jackals toward their left flank. Gritting his teeth, he shot the beast in the ribs until it toppled over dead. The other Covenant infantry around him then started to scatter away from their fallen leader and back away from the front of the battlefield. They were quickly cut down by the rest of the fighting men.

Shane stopped firing his weapon to see how they were doing overall. There were plenty of Covenant for them, that was obvious. But, they'd successfully managed to pin half of them down behind some of the park. Grunts were fighting each other for cover behind a teeter-totter, jackals were struggling to provide cover for the brutes with their shields, and the leaders were trying to direct their soldiers to cover behind parts of jungle gyms and swing sets, to no avail. The captain smiled to himself as he watched them fighting for cover while trying to push them back…

Until he heard the banshees scream overhead. He looked up to see the original two banshees along with six others. A brute somewhere roared in victory as they swooped down toward the marines, and Shane realized too late their intentions.

"Get down!" he yelled as the ground near him exploded in a large green plasma mass. He dove away from his cover and hugged the ground as the aerial vehicles pelted the human positions with plasma and their fuel rod cannons. After a few seconds, it was over… for now.

He looked up at the rest of his men. They were all sprawled out behind their cover, covered in dirt and blood. Who's blood though? He started to crawl towards them and then sighed as he saw the mangled dead body of a brute near them. The attack must've pulverized it and covered the nearby men in its blood. The men then recovered, and got to their knees and back to cover, just as the banshees began making another pass.

As he saw them, he yelled, "Get down!" again and rolled beneath one of the nearby benches. Again, the ground shook and green tinted dirt and mud flew through the air as their fuel rod cannons pelted the human lines. He rolled out a little to look at his men again.

They were completely pinned down by the aerial vehicles. And that was just what the banshees wanted. To pin them down from the air so the infantry could quickly overwhelm them. As the banshees left them again, he heard a scream from one of his men.

In seconds, he was next to Rook and Rascal. Rascal was clutching a burn on his left side that had soaked both him and his rookie friend in blood. He let out another scream, partly out of fear, as a brute somewhere roared. Spiker rounds flew overhead as Shane ducked down again, trying to figure out what to do next.

On instinct, he yelled, "Keep fighting, men!" Then he looked at the rookies. "Rook, keep fighting, I'm gonna move Rascal back!"

"Okay! Yes, sir!" yelled his friend in reply.

"Cover us!" yelled back the captain. He then gripped Rascal by his armor, and got into a crouch. With a grunt he started dragging the man away from the front of the human lines, just in time too. Another banshee pass just began, but Shane looked away to focus on Rascal. "Coop!" he yelled over the roar of the battle.

The man turned around and helped his captain drag the private up against the massive pile of rubble. "What happened?!" he yelled.

"Banshees got him!" yelled back Shane. Oddly, the very next thing he noticed was that it was raining, hard. The ground was quickly turning into a bloody mud around the bleeding man. He gripped the bleeding man's shoulder and said clearly, "Listen! I need you to cover them," he pointed to the digging men. "while they get us outta here! I'm gonna go back and fight! Hang in there!"

Rascal coughed up a small amount of blood and nodded silently, tears at the corner of his eyes. Something inside of Shane knew this would be the man's last stand. In farewell, he clapped the man on the shoulder and pressed his forehead to the other man's. "Good luck," coughed out Rascal.

"You too," replied Shane. He then got to his feet and ran back to the line of debris they were using as cover. He yelled to the men, "Anyone hit?!"

"Minor stuff!" yelled someone. "Explosions are making shrapnel fly everywhere!"

"Okay!" yelled back Shane as he fired his battle rifle into the approaching aliens. They were getting much closer now, and he was painfully aware of how quickly he was burning through ammo. He glanced back at the digging men and Rascal.

The wounded private was firing his assault rifle at any flanking Covenant and screaming his defiance. The other men were taking turns digging and firing at other aliens. He couldn't tell how close they were to getting them out though. A spiker round hit the debris next to his hand, close enough for him to feel the heat as its red hot form cooled off.

He tried to lay flatter as he fired into them again. A brute, only about fifty yards away, was preparing to throw a spike grenade, only to have his head exploded by a bullet. The primed grenade dropped into the mud behind several jackals and grunts. It exploded moments later, killing them all in a gruesome spectacle. Shane stifled a laugh as he looked for more enemies.

Then, the banshees came into view again. This time further out, giving them enough time to get to adequate cover. Even so, Shane yelled, "Get down! Banshees!"

He lay flat in the mud, letting it cover part of his neck and face as he watched the rest of his men. They all got to the ground and covered their heads the plasma started to hit the ground near them. It vaporized droplets of rain, leaving small vapor trails behind the projectiles. The mud was instantly fried, leaving burnt marks as large as a baseball in the ground around the men. A fuel rod cannon hit nearby, making Shane bury his face in the mud and cover his head as the ground shook.

Then, he looked up just in time to see the crawling Shawn get hit. The fuel rod cannon shot exploded only inches from the man, throwing him into the concrete debris next to his head. Shawn had lost his helmet earlier, and his bear head smacked into the cement hard enough to make it bleed. Shane winced slightly as he watched it, but he couldn't move toward his friend just yet.

About a minute later, the strafing banshees left them again. Most the men seemed fine as they got up to fire at the aliens again. Shane, still on edge from the last banshee attack, crawled toward Shawn and shook him. He moaned slightly, but didn't wake completely. The captain knew he had to move him back and away from where the banshees were focusing their attacks. He gripped J's arm and yelled, "I'm gonna get Shawn outta here! Cover me!"

The man didn't look at him, but simply nodded and began unloading his clip, trying to pin down the aliens. Shane didn't say anything more, but gripped the man by his armor and began dragging him toward Coop and the digging crew.

The man looked up as he saw his captain bringing another wounded man. He left Saint and Hoot to dig and yelled, "He alright?!"

"Yeah! Just knocked out! I hope," he last part was barely audible over the sound of the battle. "How's the digging?" he asked his friend.

Coop turned around and pointed. "It's almost big enough for us to get in, but beyond that, it looks like the basement's collapsed. So I don't know what it'll do as far as getting us outta here, but we can hide in there from the banshees!"

Shane nodded as he heard them again. "Yeah, we need that! What about that other hole?" he asked, pointing toward another hole that they'd started.

Coop glanced at it and started to speak. Several spiker rounds pelted the wall behind him, making small "_ping ping ping"_ sounds. The two men ducked next to Rascal and continued. "It could work, sir! There seems to be a better way through! But we can't widen the hole quick enough!"

Shane nodded and ducked again as more projectiles hit near them. "Okay! I gotta go keep fighting! Hurry!"

Coop nodded and turned away to keep working. Shane glanced at Rascal, who was still bleeding profusely. He wanted to help the man, but they had nothing to stop the bleeding with. The wound was too deep and too large for any real bandage anyways. There was nothing they could do.

He looked away and ran on towards the battle to keep trying to hold the Covenant back. He could see minor injuries on his men. Cuts, bruises, and burns, but nothing serious. They were holding out alright, but their ammo wasn't. It was dwindling quickly.

Ignoring it, Shane looked up over the debris and fired his weapon again, killing a large group of grunts. He tossed a grenade out, letting four or five jackals run past it. It then detonated, killing most of them. A few rounds to the head finished off the only survivor.

The Covenant group had taken heavy casualties; about half of their original group was dead. But two of the marines were injured, one fatally, and they were still greatly outnumbered. The aliens were moving closer too, most of them were running past their dead allies and hiding behind pieces of debris thrown about by the crashing ring wreckage and other bodies. Shane grit his teeth as fired into the rapidly approaching infantry.

They were playing a game of leap-frog. One group would run forward, past other infantry, firing at the humans to pin them down. Then, another group from further behind would run past both the groups, taking the lead. Then the third group would pass the other two. And the cycle would continue. They'd been doing that down the whole length of the battlefield, taking small casualties here or there. But the humans had to stop them in their tracks before they were overrun.

Shane growled and fired his weapon into them, until a hand on his shoulder startled him. He drew his knife like lightning and held it ready to strike… only to see it was Coop. "Coop, don't scare me like that!" he yelled as he turned to start firing again.

Coop turned him around again. "Sir! We can get into the hole now! Let's go!" he yelled.

The captain watched the man jog back toward the debris and slide next a hole near Rascal. Shane then belted out at the top of his lungs, "Fall back! Follow Coop!"

The men heard their leader and were only too eager to start sliding into the basement that would save their lives. Shane stopped next to Rascal. "Come on!" he yelled.

"No," came the reply as the man choked out more blood.

"I'm not leaving you here!" yelled the captain.

A brute then roared behind him and fired his spiker at the men, missing and hitting the wall. Rascal shoved Shane away from him as he fired his battle rifle at the giant… but too late. One of the rounds pinned him to the wall by his shoulder, and another hit him square in the stomach. Shane watched, horrified, as his friend coughed pitifully. But the fight wasn't out of him yet, and he gathered enough strength to fire his weapon at the brute, one handed, and kill him.

A crack of lightning flashed as Rascal's arm dropped down at his side, finished. He sighed quietly, and his head lolled to the side to look at Shane. "Go," he whispered. Shane shook his head as he glanced back at the approaching Covenant. They were nearing all too quickly, running toward the debris that he himself had once used as cover. Time seemed to slow as he looked back at Rascal. "Go," he said again. Shane, heartbroken and furious, ducked into the hole made by his men.

Rascal though, wasn't finished. He used his good arm to pick up a grenade off the ground and lift it toward his mouth. As the aliens neared, he gripped the pin of the grenade firmly with his teeth, and then waited for them to kill him. _Kill me, _he thought_. My arm drops, the pin is pulled, and you all get a one-way ticket to hell. Come and get me._

One brute answered his final wish, and was all too happy to fire his spiker into Rascal several times. Three of the rounds buried themselves in his torso along with the other one already there. Another found him in the neck. He used his last bit of strength, and let his arm fall to the ground, with the grenade still in hand.

With the pin still in his mouth, he smiled, as the grenade exploded and engulfed him. The blast also killed the brute, several others, and collapsed the entrance to the hole where the rest of his squad was.

Rascal's last act in his life, saved the lives of eight others.

* * *

**Sad!!! :'( Sorry guys! Rascal's dead! Please don't hate me! But i wanted to send him out with a bang! Review! Tell me what you think!**


	13. Chapter 13: Tunnels

**Sorry this update took so long!!! It's been rough recently with school and everything! Anyways, here's the next chapter! The group is still trying to get past this one large piece of wreckage, so this is sort of a little adventure _under_ the titanic debris! Enjoy!!!**

* * *

"Rascal!" screamed Rook as he ran toward the source of the explosion.

Shane had ducked into the hole and fallen to the ground in a heap. He heard the explosion, but he didn't immediately process what it meant. Then it hit him: Rascal was dead. The officer got to his knees and intercepted the other rookie as he ran to help Rascal.

"No!" he screamed. Rook's knees gave out beneath him and they both fell to the ground about five feet from the hole they'd made. The fire from the grenade subsided, and an avalanche of debris fell in around them, covering up their exit. Rook struggled slightly, so Shane said quietly, "There's nothing you can do now." Maybe not exactly comforting, but the truth.

They were then plunged into darkness. Nearly a minute passed before anyone spoke. Shane, his officer instincts taking over, yelled, "Everyone alright?" At first there was no answer. "Sound off!"

"Coop here."

"Snipe."

"J."

"Saint."

And the names continued. Shawn was still unconscious and bleeding slightly, but okay. The rest of the group had minor wounds from flying shrapnel and plasma, but the majority of the group was alright. Shane patted Rook's shoulder absentmindedly as they sat in the darkness, thinking about Rascal's fate.

After another minute, Shane rested Rook against a wall in the basement and stood up as much as he could. He had to stoop slightly to avoid hitting his head, but for the most part, it was fine. His eyes began to adjust to the total darkness slightly, and he could see sources of light through cracks in the wall.

He walked up to the wall and peeked through too see what Covenant were doing. Several brutes were examining where Rascal had been and the entrance to the hole. One growled and turned to the others. "They're dead," he said confidently. "It must've caved in on them." He then walked past the Covenant soldiers and led them away from the sight of the battle.

Shane sighed in relief and turned around to look at his men. "We're okay. They think we're dead."

"You sure?" asked someone. Shane guessed it was J, it sounded like him.

"Yeah, for sure."

He walked away from the wall and tried to see things in the darkness. The large forms of the marines dominated his impaired sight. He could make out the size of the room, too. It seemed to be about ten by twenty feet. Half of it was filled with rubble from the collapsing building above them. Besides those details, he couldn't tell much else.

"Coop?" he asked quietly.

"Yes, sir?" came the reply from his left.

Shane turned to face the source of the voice. "Is…there any way out of here?"

Coop sighed. "Umm… anyone got a light?"

"I might," said Saint in the darkness. They heard him fumble around with his gear looking for it. "Aha!" he said happily. There was a click and then a small flame appeared near the man's face. "This is the best I got, sir."

The flame cast little light around the room, but it was enough for them to make out each other's faces. Shane nodded as he looked at them all. "Where's Shawn?" he asked.

"Here," said J. The light moved to reveal him crouched next to the knocked out Shawn.

"How is he?" their captain asked.

"The bleeding stopped and he seems okay. I think he just hit his head a little too hard," declared J.

"Okay, good," Shane said, trying to sound confident. "We need to get out of here. Coop? Any ideas?"

Coop's silhouetted head shook as he sighed and crossed his arms. "There's no way out this way. But…"

"But what?"

"But, the room next door…" he moved and put his hands on one of the walls as he trailed off. His helmet moved to look at Shane. "Remember when I said there was a way out next to us?" he asked.

"Yeah. You said you couldn't widen the hole enough for us to get through though," he said.

Coop moved toward his captain a little bit. "That was under those circumstances... back then," he said. "There's no battle raging outside now. But now that we have time, we can get out that way," he said with total confidence.

"You sure?" asked Shane.

"Of course! Here!" He grabbed something that sounded heavy and metal, and smacked the wall next to him.

Hoot, who wasn't paying attention, yelled, "Holy shit! What was that?!"

"Coop's gonna bring the place down around our ears," said J with little emotion.

The smacking sounds stopped and Coop stepped into the light cast by the small flame. "You gotta better idea?" he asked and then turned away.

"Yeah," J pointed to the caved in hole next to them. "Let's just get out that way."

Coop smacked the wall once and then said, "No. They're probably still out there cleaning up the dead. The way out is right through here…"he smacked the wall again.

Shane shook his head and looked outside again. Sure enough, the Covenant were still out there. Coop was definitely right about that. To his right, where Coop was bashing his way out, he heard something crumble, and then the word, "Bingo."

The captain turned and looked at a football sized hole that Coop had made. The man dropped the heavy pipe he was using on the ground and gripped edge of the hole he'd made to look through it. Shane could see some light cast on his face from the outside, and the sound of the pouring rain and thunder grew louder. Coop smiled as he looked through the hole into the next room. His head swiveled to the right and he nodded as he turned around to look at them. "There's a way out through there," he said.

"Can we get to it?" asked Snipe.

"Of course!" said Coop with full confidence as he picked up the pipe again. "We just have to knock down this wall."

Shane then heard him start bashing the wall again. He then turned his attention to Rook, he was sitting on the floor with his knees drawn up to his chest and his face buried between them. The captain put a hand on the rookie's back and asked quietly, "Hey, you okay, Rook?"

The young man nodded slightly but said nothing.

Shane didn't know what else to say as he patted the man's back and stood. "We'll get out of here soon," was all he could think of.

* * *

A while later, Shane awoke to the sound of crumbling stones and concrete. He looked around him and grabbed for his battle rifle as Coop looked at him. "It's okay, sir." He smiled. "We're through to the next room and the tunnel out of here."

Shane said nothing but stood and looked at the large hole behind Coop and stood. The other marines were all looking at him curiously as he examined the hole and then looked at them. "Let's go. We've wasted enough time here."

The men all broke out grins as they lined up behind Coop, who climbed through the large hole into the next room. The captain looked around and saw Rook, still in the same position as before. He gripped the man's upper arm firmly and hauled him to his feet. "Come on, Rook. Time to go."

The young man nodded slightly as he got in line in front of J and Shawn. Shane grabbed Shawn and J's arms and dragged them out of line. They looked at him, surprised, as he said, "Keep an eye on Rook. He's in bad shape."

They then nodded their understanding and got back in line behind Rook. Shane then sighed as he waited to go through the hole to the tunnel. Only a minute later, he was on the other side of the wall and standing in another room with the rest of the group of soldiers. Outside, the rain still poured outside and thunder boomed loudly. Shane looked and could still some lingering Covenant picking through the dead bodies. Bloody rain water was steadily flowing through the small hole to the outside, washing up around their boots… but not filling the room.

Snipe looked at the flowing water and speculated, "It must be draining out somewhere." Shane eyes finally fully adjusted to the dim light in the room and he saw the sniper splashing through the water toward one end of the room. The ceiling was half-collapsed, but the water was draining out that way. "I think there's a way out this way," he said as crouched down and started moving through the small tunnel.

Shane shrugged and pointed after the man. "Follow him. That's the only way out right now."

Slowly, one by one, the men followed the marksman through the hole. Shane groaned as he breathed in the smell of Covenant blood in the dirty water. It almost made him gag it was so strong. After a few meters, Snipe called from ahead, "The tunnel's getting smaller, sir! We're gonna have to crawl!"

Every man, including Shane, groaned out loud as they processed this news. When he hit a part of the tunnel where it got smaller, he dropped to his stomach and tried to hold back the bile rising in his throat. The tunnel seemed almost too small for him to crawl through, and he suddenly felt very claustrophobic. "Umm…" he said out loud and then raised his voice. "Snipe, how's it looking up there?"

"Same, sir! Not opening up! But I hear some wind of some sorts!" yelled back the sniper.

"Thank God! Fresh air!" yelled someone.

"Looks like it's just— Whoa!" Snipe yelled suddenly.

Shane stopped in the muck and listened. Behind him someone's head bumped into his boots, but he didn't care. "Snipe?" he asked uncertainly, but received no reply. "Snipe!" He was worried now.

He then picked up his pace as he worked his way through the small space… until the floor fell out from beneath him. "Whoa!" he yelled as dropped down about six feet into some water. The captain got to his feet in the filth and looked around him. The water lapped up around his waist, but went no higher than that. Across the room Snipe was examining the wall and behind him someone else tumbled into the water with a splash.

Shane glanced down at Hoot but walked over to the sniper. "What's up?" he asked abruptly, drawing the man from his trance.

Snipe looked at him worriedly and said, "It's not draining."

Shane waited for more of an explanation, but when he received none, he said, "And…?"

The marksman seemed frustrated and pointed at the water around them. "If there were a way out, the water would be draining out. And it's not. Which means that there's no quick way out of here."

Shane started to feel claustrophobic again, but tried to keep it under control. He swallowed hard and thought about what the man was suggesting. There was no way out, which meant they would either, drown, or possibly suffocate, unless they crawled back the way they'd come. He sighed and looked up around the room. To think that after everything he'd been through… he could die in a tunnel beneath a section of the space elevator. Strange.

The captain shook his head and looked at the marksman. "No."

"No? Sir—"

"No!" Shane shouted, getting the attention of most of their group. Rook had just tumbled out and Shawn and J were coming out after him, each splashing into the bloody water. Shane looked at them all. "We're not going to die in here. There's gotta be a way out."

Snipe said nothing at first, and then looked around the room and at the ground. "These rings to the space elevator, some can be a tenth of a mile…"

"How far do you think we've come?" asked the sniper's captain.

The marksman smiled for a second, and then it disappeared. "Maybe… an eighth or ninth." He looked up at Shane and the rest of the men. "We don't have much farther to go… but we're not going anywhere unless we find a way out."

Shane glanced down and could see the water had risen almost two inches. The weather must've worsened after they'd left. Not good. "Okay!" he shouted. "Look around! Let's not die in here!"

Each of the soldiers then spread out and checked for a way out. Snipe and Shane stood and brainstormed. "Think there might be some sewers down here?" asked Shane.

The sniper nodded. "Yeah. But I can't tell if we're in someone' basement, or where the street used to be or what. Everything just smashed and destroyed."

Shane nodded and looked around them. Then, he looked down into the water. "Hold my gun," he said as he shoved his battle rifle into the arms of the sniper.

"Wait… sir, what are you doin'?"

"I don't know really. But let's hope it works." Shane then took a deep breath and ducked into the water. He could only see a few inches in front of his face, but he could feel the asphalt of the street. He looked and felt around for a man hole, or some king of sealed way out. Then, he felt a small suction near his fingers. Shane jumped up and took another deep breath and then went back down to investigate.

A man hole covering. Small tornados were above the small holes on either side of the heavy metal where water was being sucked through. Water was being drained out, but very, very slowly. He stuck his fingers in the middle of the tornadoes and pulled with all his might, but he was fighting the weight of all the water in the room. As he ran out of breath, the captain stood up fully and breathed a deep breath.

Shane turned to face Snipe and sighed as he wiped water off his face. "I found a man hole covering where some water is draining out. If we can lift it, we can use the sewers to just go underneath the wreckage." The men all smiled and high fived each other until Shane stopped them. "Hold on, guys. We still gotta open that thing… It's gonna be tough."

Coop and Shawn stepped forward through the muck. "We'll get it!" they said at the same time. Before Shane could reply, the duo took deep breaths and then ducked under the filthy water. The rest of the men waited impatiently for some sing of their success, but after several seconds, nothing happened. The two men then resurfaced again, each took another deep breath, and then they ducked down again to try a second time.

Shane waited as he leaned against the debris covered walls and tried to look through the muck. Then, he started to feel suction, the water dropped dramatically. They'd done it, and now they could escape. Coop came up first, followed by Shawn a moment later, each wearing large grins. "Good job!" said Shane to them.

"Thanks," replied Coop. "It was tough but, that's alright!" He laughed at himself as the men then waited for the water to drain, and for them to be able to finally breathe fresh air again.

A little more than a minute later, all the water finally drained out into the piping below. Shane got on his stomach and put his head through the hole to investigate. Another horrid smell of a different kind assaulted his senses, but it was their way out… and it was clear of any Covenant or any other obstacles of any kind. Finally, a clear way out.

He looked up at the other men and nodded down at the tunnels underneath him. "Let's get outta here."

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**Review please!!!**

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	14. Chapter 14: Moving

**Sorry this update took so long. I'm so overwhelmed right now. Anyways, here's the new chapter!!!**

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The sun was beginning to set over the abandoned city. The rain continued to pour over the city, and as darkness fell, lightning was the only thing illuminating the city. Nothing would've noticed the man hole covering that just started moving.

Shane grunted as he pushed up and moved the heavy metal away from the mouth of the hole. Fresh air… beautiful thing. He took a deep breath as he stepped out and let the rest of his group exit from the sewers. The walk through them had been short, only a hundred feet or so. At the first sign of an exit, they'd unanimously voted to take it.

One they were all out, the group then jogged over to a small shop, and sat down to rest. Shane sighed and closed his eyes momentarily before saying, "Everyone alright?"

"Yeah," was the reply from most of the men.

Shane walked over to Rook and sat next to him. "You okay?"

The man nodded and looked at him for the first time in hours. "Yes, sir." He looked down again and sighed. "It's just that… being trapped in there… I thought I'd die." His voice cracked a little. "Like… Rascal."

Shane nodded and patted the man's shoulder. "It's okay, Rook." He shook him to get his attention. "You alright now?"

The rookie nodded vigorously and looked at his captain with an intense look. "Yes, sir. I'm ready to kick some Covenant ass and avenge my friend."

Shane wasn't about promoting the hunger for revenge, but there seemed to be no other way to draw Rook from his depressive trance. He nodded and smiled. "Well good. 'Cause I need every man I've got."

"Well, you got me for sure."

Shane nodded again and stood to address the rest of the men. "Okay, boys. I think it's about time we made some real progress here. Let's move out!"

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The rain had finally stopped, and the men moved swiftly now. Crossing over the terrain as though it wasn't even there and the farther they got from the center of the city, the less Covenant there were.

Shane climbed up the tall debris and stood at the top of the massive pile of destruction. From the top he could now see he was standing atop two buildings that had fallen against each other, and were barely holding each other up. He hoped they would stay standing for just a little longer.

As the rest of his squad climbed up after him, he looked out over what was left of the city. There wasn't much more to go. The crashed ship could be seen just a little ways beyond the city limits. The crashed rings were spaced out a bit more now, and could be seen for hundreds of miles. He looked down into the city around him and looked around. From his position, no Covenant patrols or outposts could be seen. Good. There would be fewer Covenant.

Behind him Rook appeared and also surveyed the desolate city. He looked at Shane as the others appeared and asked, "How's it look?"

Shane nodded, mostly to himself, and said, "Good. There's less Covenant and the elevator debris is more spaced out so we can move faster. Hopefully, if we move fast enough and don't get stopped, we can get out of the city before sunset tomorrow."

The men behind him nodded to each other. Rook motioned to the ring around them, "What about this?"

The pile of debris they were standing on was a good fifty feet away from the ring, and they were thirty feet above the ring. As the pile sloped down, it would drop too far beneath the edge of the ring debris. Shane shook his head as he tried to look for another way on top of the ring from somewhere else.

Snipe, of course, found it first. "Sir," he said as he pointed to their left. "See that apartment complex over there? I think that's close enough for us to jump over on top of the ring."

Shane squinted to see the distant buildings right next to the massive debris. He nodded and clapped Snipe on the shoulder as he looked at the rest of them. "Let's move out, guys!"

They all sprouted smiles as he ran past them and down the pile of the debris. He didn't slow as he ran across the street to several large buildings. "Let's get to the tops of these buildings. We can run across them and get to the apartment complex and avoid Covenant."

As they neared the building he stopped at the entrance to the complex and waved them all inside. Meanwhile, he watched for Covenant patrols. As his troops filed past him, he saw none and finally ducked inside the building. He shouted up to them, "To the roof!"

They ran through old homes that had been destroyed and came out on the dirt covered roof. Shane came out last and looked at the massive ring right in front of them. "Find a way on, guys!" he shouted to them. He and Snipe ran to the left and further down the rooftop of the complex.

The sniper pointed to several large beams lying on the ground. "We could make a bridge."

Shane picked up on them and laid it down on the edge of the railing so it was at an angle. He then stood on the wood and jumped up and down to test how strong it was. It held firmly, to his delight. He walked over toward the elevator debris and set down the board to see if it reached. It did, barely.

The rest of the men by now had seen what their leader was up to and started setting up other boards next to it and on top of it to make it stronger. Shane went first, slowly he inched across the board and felt to see if it was safe. As he went, he saw that the edge on the ring was slipping. He turned calmly and said, "Hold the bridge in place. It's slipping."

"Yes, sir," said someone.

As he moved along again, he felt steadier and finally made it onto the ring. He surveyed the area in front of him and watched as his next teammate started across the bridge. Shane looked around in front of him for a place for them to get off the ring. A couple feet down he saw an open window and got an idea.

Coop walked up next to him and looked at what Shane was looking at. He scrunched his face in confusion and looked at his leader. "The window? You want us to jump into that little window?"

Shane held up a grenade with a grin. "O' course not," he said smugly.

Coop looked at it and nodded his understanding. With a smile he said, "I'll take care of it."

Shane smiled back and turned around to see most of the men had crossed their little bridge. They looked at him in confusion, and then jumped as they heard an explosion. Shane turned to see that Coop had thrown the grenade into the open window and he blown away most of the wall. As the last man crossed, Shane wasted no time. "Jump into the next building! We will head down through there and back through the streets!"

Coop jumped first and landed roughly inside what used to be a bedroom. He stood and looked around him before waving for the next man to jump. Next was Rook, and he had a harder time making it completely into the room. He landed close to the edge, and almost fell out, had it not been for Coop. The man grabbed the young soldier by the collar and hauled him inside quickly, before waving the next soldier in.

Several minutes later, they were all running down the stairs of the building and sprinting across the street to the safety of another building. As Shane ran inside, he looked around at the panting, filthy men. He should give them a break, it'd been a hard, fast-paced day.

Snipe walked up to him and said, "Can I talk to you?"

Shane was slightly confused, but nodded. "Of course. Come." He led them outside to the street and looked at the sniper. "What?"

Snipe glanced back inside the building and asked, "How are we going to save those people in the ship? There're only a few of us and they most of the garrison here focused on attacking that ship."

Shane sighed. "I know. We'll just have to find a way to get around them or something."

Snipe moved in closer and whispered, "I've already thought of something."

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**I know. Boring chapter! I'm sorry! But this next chapter should start to make it interesting!**


	15. Chapter 15: Dilemmas

**Hey guys! Sorry this took so long! I have a little news for ya. I've been working on another story for a while now and it's probably one of my best ones yet! But, since my other stories aren't as good at the new one, I may be deleting them to work on them more or they must just not be posted again. Sad, i know. So, if you guys want to read more of this story i need a total of 17 reviews before July 15. That gives you guys ten days for five reviews! So review and save this story!**

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"We must distract them," declared Snipe.

Shane was interested and moved in closer, despite knowing that no one was around to hear. "How?"

Snipe looked up back the way they'd come and to the center of the city. "We need to sneak in and deliver a blow to their main invasion headquarters. And it must be damaging enough that they think there's a large human force…"

"The Covenant troops attacking the ship will have no choice but to fall back to the center of the city and stop the attack," finished Shane.

The sniper nodded. "Exactly."

They sat in silence, listening to the wind whistle through abandoned streets. The sun was rising now, and casting a glow over the city. Shane glanced at the sniper and asked hesitantly, "How… are we going to deliver this blow… and get out alive?"

The man sighed and shifted is weight from one foot to the other. "I have no idea." He hesitated and then asked, "Should we tell the others?"

Shane thought for a moment and glanced back at the doorway into the building. "They should know… "

The sniper helped him along. "The farther we got without telling them the plan, the farther we get from the center of the city, where the Covenant headquarters is. If we don't tell them now, we'll get farther and farther and then the marines that have to do the job will have to backtrack." He looked at Shane with a serious look. "We've wasted enough time."

Shane nodded, knowing his friend was alright. He sighed and asked hopelessly, "Who'll do the job?"

The sniper straightened and said, "I will." He looked intently at Shane and said, "But I'll need at least two to go with me."

The captain nodded to his friend. Part of him didn't want Snipe to go. They'd become good friends throughout this whole fight… and he'd be devastated if his new friend was killed. Part of him wanted to beg Snipe not to go, but that would be selfish. This was Snipe's decision to make… and his alone.

Shane clapped his friend on the shoulder and simply said, "Very well."

They glanced at each other and then turned to go in and inform the rest of the team on their plan.

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"It's suicide," declared Hoot.

"Crazy," said Saint.

"I ain't doing that, mate. Not what I signed up for," said a vey resolute Coop.

"You signed up for the Marine Corps. And you'll do what you're told and go ever we tell you, Coop," hissed Shane as he listened to their comments. They'd hardly gotten into the plan and already everyone was shooting it out of the sky. "Guys, this is the only way we can do this and not get killed!"

"Oh, so going straight into the heart of the city, into the Covenant stronghold, is _not _going to get us killed. I was under the impression that we were moving away from the center of the city because _that_ was safer," said J.

Shane wanted to punch the idiot in the face. "You're not listening," he said slowly. "Moving away from the center of the city is safer, yes. But we need to distract the Covenant so we can move in and save the crew of the _Sword and Shield_ without getting our asses fried." He spread his arms in frustration. "It's either this or taking on their whole frickin' garrison."

Silence filled the room as the men weighed their options. Snipe stood behind Shane with his arms crossed, silent as a statue. He'd already stated that he would go, but of course he needed two volunteers to go with him. At this point, it seemed he would be lucky to get just one.

"Couldn't we just be stealthy when we go and save the crew of the ship?" asked Hoot.

"No. There are simply too many enemies and we can't fight them alone," said Shane in a clear voice.

After this the men started throwing out their own ideas and were arguing with each other. Rook kept glancing at Shane, as though there was something he wanted to say, but he kept looking away as soon as they would make eye contact. Shane furrowed his brow in confusion, but said nothing.

As the arguing escalated, everyone was now yelling at each other. Everyone except Rook that is. He continued to glance at Shane and Snipe and more than once, Shane had mouthed, "What's up?" But, every time he'd done so the rookie had hastily looked away.

After a while, Shane shouted, "We're running out of time!" He was glad to see everyone stop and look at him. "We need someone to go now so we can save the crew before any more of them can get killed."

"But who will go?" asked Coop.

"I will," said a voice. Everyone turned to see Rook standing next to Snipe.

Shane sighed. Snipe was an excellent sniper and had much more experience than Rook. "Rook, I don't know, man."

"It's because I'm the rookie huh?"

Damn. He was onto him. "No, Rook—"

"They killed my friend, Shane." It was barely a whisper as he stepped closer to his leader. "You can't ask me to let the bastards who did that live. I can't have that on my conscience."

Shane sighed and ran a hand over his face. Letting Snipe go was one thing, but Rook? No. He looked at the rookie, prepared to turn him down, until he saw the look in the young man's eyes. It was unlike anything he'd ever seen. Anger, commitment, sadness, guilt, bloodlust, all into one. Shane again sighed and looked at the ground. "Very well," he muttered.

Rook smiled and clapped Shane on the shoulder before going to stand next to Snipe. He looked so much younger that Shane almost had second thoughts. But, it really wasn't his decision to make.

He looked at Snipe. "Think you two can handle the mission?"

"Yeah. It'll be better with the just the two of us. We'll be harder to track."

Shane nodded and picked up his weapon. "Okay. The rest of you come with me toward the ship. Snipe, Rook, you guys head to the center of the city."

Snipe nodded. "How will we know when to blow this thing?" he asked.

Shane hadn't thought about that. "Um… wait three days. We should be in position by then and ready."

"Okay." He started to head out the door but then turned and said, "Hey, good luck alright?"

"Thanks and you too. I think we're all going to need it."

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**Hey tell me how you want me to do the story from here on out. Like, if is should alternate chapters between the two teams, only focus on Shane's group, have both teams in the same chapter... Tell me what you guys think! Please review!!! =D**


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